Portable fabric steamer



5, 1933- w. s. MARVIN El Al.

PORTABLE FABRIC STEAMER Filed March 23, 1931 A/glfezri Mary/'77 L7. 5327577/7 Patented Dec. 5, 1933 i Q r UNITED STATES PATENT o l-"Fleeromance memo STEAMER 7 Walter S. Marvin and Carl L. Sibenhorn, Two

Rivers, Wis., assignors to Metal WareCorporation, Two Rivers, Wis.

Application March 23, 1931. Serial No. 524,650

4 Claims. (01. 21938) This invention relates to improvements in abodiment of the herein disclosed invention may portable fabric steamer.be made as eome'withinthe scope of the claims. One of the objects of thepresent invention is Figure l is a vertical sectional view through theprovision of a portable fabric steamer includthe body of the device,with parts thereof illus- 5 ing a boiler electrically heated andprovided trated in elevation; therein with a steam conduit having oneend Figure 2 is a bottom plan view, with parts thereof leading outthrough the top of the boilthereof broken away. er for projecting steamonto fabrics, such as In carrying out our invention, the device insplush, velvet, and the like, to bring thenap in cludes a cylindricalbody 1 which forms the boil..-

. cases where it has been flatteneddueto folding, er oithe device,wherein the steam is gener- 65 etc., and also includes means whereby thedeated. vice can be readily supported by the hand for Extending into thebottom of the body 1 is discharging steam onto the fabrics in the p'ropacylindrical member 2, the inner closed end or places. of which ispositioned inwardly of the body 1,

Another object of the present invention is the While the edges aredisposed at right angles, as provision of a device of the abovecharacter, shown at 3, and then bent'upwardly around the wherein steamwill be highly vaporized and prolower end of the body 1, as shown at 4,and then vide a fine spray of steam to be directed onto extendedlaterally and provided with apertures fabrics, such as velvet, plush,and the like, for to provide a securing flange.

raising the nap and wherein the water from The base 5 is formed of'asingle piece of mawhich the steam has developed, is electrically terialhaving its lower edges outwardly curved, heated and at the same timeincludes a detachas shown at 6, with the extreme edge turned upablehandle carried by the body of the device so wardly to form a bead 7. Thebottom'plate 8 is that the same can be readily guided forprojectprovided with supporting feet 9 of insulating ma- 2 ing the steamonto the fabrics. terial and the plate 8 is connected to the up 30 Afurther object of the present invention is turned edge of the flange 6by means of screws the provision of a device of the above character 10.Arranged within the cylindrical member 2 including a boiler body havingan electrical heatis a heating unit 12 connected up by means of ingelement in the bottom thereof for generatthe conductors 13 to thecontact points 14", an

39 ing steam within the boiler body, and also in ranged within thesocket 15." I. cludes a tubular conduit leading from a point At theupperend of the boiler .1, we provide adjacent the top of the boiler down toclose a sleeve 16 internally threaded to receive the proximity to theheater, and then coiled with headed plug Which'has bore 13 leading m thesecond end projecting out through the top the inner end thereof, andwhich communicates 35 of the boiler for the discharge of the steam, withan aperture in the outer end of the 'plug. whereby the steam issuperheated by the hot Slidably mountedwithin the bore 18 is :a'. pinwater as it passes through the tubular con- 19 having stop nuts'20, onthe inner end, and duit. a head 21 on the'outer end. Mounted upon Astill further object of the present invention the pin 19 and disposedbetween the inner end is the provision of a steamer of the above charofthe bore 18 and the nuts 20,'*is acoilsp'ring acter, wherein the inletof the steam conduit is 22 which normally urges the head 21 towards apositioned at the opposite side of the boiler from seated position. Thepin 19 carries a washer the outlet, so that when the device is tilted'for 23 positioned beneath the head'21, so as to form directing thesteam onto the fabrics, the water a tight closure for the aperture inthe end of a 5 within the boiler will not enter the conduit, the plug,17. The plug. 17 is provided with latwhereby the boiler may be disposedat various erally disposed ears 24 forming thumb pieces angles withoutany water entering the inlet end whereby the same may be screwed intothe sleeve of the conduit. 16,. or removed therefrom.

With the above and other objects in view, The movable pin 19 forms asafety valve, for the 0 which will appear as the description proceeds,body of the boiler whereby, when the steam presthe invention resides inthe novel construction, sure within the boiler reaches a predeterminedcombination and arrangement of parts substanpressure, the head 21 willbe unseated, permitting tially as hereinafter described and moreparticuthe steam to pass upwardly through the bore 18 larly defined bythe appended claims, it being and out through the aperture in the outerend of understood that such changes in the precise emthe plug. In orderto determine the water level 1 within the boiler body 1, lateral pipe's25 and 25' are connected up with the body 1 at suitable points asindicated in Figure 1, and these pipes are connected by means of a gageglass 26,

'One of the main features of our invention is the arrangement of thesteam conduit 27, wherein one end of the tube opens into the boileradjacent the upper end thereof, as indicated at 2-8. The

tube then extends downwardly to a point adjacent the heating element 12.The tube is then coiled,

as shown at 29, and passes out through the top of the boiler upon theside thereof opposite the inlet end 28 and extends laterallyat an anglerelative to the body ofv the boiler to form a discharge nozzle 30. Itwill be apbelentfrorn this arrangement that when the boiler i is tiltedto a guide the discharge nozzle 30 over the surface of the fabrics, thewater within the boiler will not enter the inlet end 28 of the tube.However, by causing the steam to travel downwardly and then aroundthrough the coil 29, the steam, through the medium of the water withinthe boiler will be superheated and will be highly vaporized by the timeit passes out through the nozzle 30, resulting in a fine spray of steambeingdischarged onto the fabrics. t v

One side of the boiler l is provided with internallythreaded reinforcedportionsgl to which theframe 32 for the handle 33 is connected, by-

means of thescrewbolts 34.- Suitable insulating washers 35 can bemounted upon the shanksof the bolts 34an d positioned between the frame32 and the outer faces of the reinforced portions 31,

From the above description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, it will be readily apparent that we have provided a very simpleand inexpensive device which will prove very effi" cient for the purposeintended, generating, by

electrically heating, a very fine spray of steam,

which is superheated by passing the same through the hotwater in theboiler. This device has been found to be'very useful in steamingfabrics, such as plush, velvets, and the like, for raisingthe napthereon, which is usually pressed down through. the folding of thegoods.

Various types. of bottom members can be used for supporting a deviceupon any surface, but it is preferred to have a bottom member which isinserted in, spaced relation with the surface, so

that, the heat from the electric heating element will not injure ahighly polished surface.

I Various-types of heating elements can be used, butit is preferredtoprovide aheating element which canbe installed within an enclosedchamber in the bottom of the boiler, so that the water Within the boilerwill be inwardly heated and maintained at a boilingpoint in order todevelop It suflicient steam for the purpose intended' will alsoibe notedthat when the steam reaches a predetermined pressure it will passout'through the safety valve atthe top'of the boiler.

While we have shown and described the preferred embodiment of ourinvention, it will be apparent from the foregoing that slight changesmay be made in the construction when putting the invention into practicewithout departing from the spirit of the same or the scope of theappended claims. v I

. We claim:

l. A device of the character described including a boiler body, aninwardly extending bottom member therefor, a heating element in thebot-. tom member, a base member, insulated feet attached to the base, asteam conduit in the boiler having the inlet end positioned adjacent thetop atone-side and the outlet end extending out through the top on theside of the boiler opposite the inlet and a handle connected to one sideof the body.

2. A device of the character described including a cylindrical body, aninwardly extending bottom member, therefona heating element carried bythe bottom, a steam conduit having its inlet end arranged adjacent thetop of the body at one side thereof, said conduit extending into thebody adjacent the bottom and then coiled and extended upwardly, theoutlet end of said conduit leading out through the top of the body attheside thereof opposite the inlet and a laterally disposed nozzle atthe outlet end. a

3. A device of the character described including a cylindrical body, aheating element arranged in the bottom thereof, a steam conduit withinthe body having its outlet end adjacent the top of'the body and at oneside thereof, said conduit extending downwardly to a point adjacent thebottom and coiled with the coils extending upwardly, the outlet endofsaid conduit extending through the top of the body at the'side thereofopposite the inlet, a safety valve 'removably positioned in the .top ofthe body and a removable handle attached to theside of the body andarranged upon the opposite sides of the outlet of the steam conduit.

4. A portable device for steaming fabrics. cornprising a boiler body,'anelectrical heating element disposed in the lower end of the body, asteam conduit pipe disposed in the boiler body havingits inletpositioned adjacent to the. top of the boiler above the water-level ofthe boiler and at one side of the longitudinal axis of the boiler, and alaterally extending outlet formed on the steam conduit extending outthrough the top of the boiler on the side of the boiler opposite to theinlet whereby upon the tilting of the boiler toward said outlet, thewater. will gravitate away

